The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Ah, my feathers are all messed up.

It wasn’t just the principal—every single person who came near was a problem.

Especially the kids in the crowd. Instead of gently stroking with the grain, they kept ruffling and tousling my feathers. Thankfully, maybe because I looked scary and they were aware that I was under the care of the imperial princess, no one tried to pluck any feathers.

After suffering through it for about ten minutes, Sylvia finally went back into the building, and I leapt up from my spot and made my escape.

Leaving behind the disappointed people—maybe they’d taken a liking to my feathers—I flew back up to the rooftop.

This time, I carefully landed to avoid damaging anything and looked down from above.

I didn’t know the details of the battle Sylvia had fought earlier. To be honest, even if I did, I wasn't sure it would matter. It’s not like I’m getting involved in politics or anything.

I’d heard that she stopped a war. If that were true, then her actions were, quite literally, those of a protagonist.

And thanks to that, people could now live in peace like this—

......

Hmm. I was trying to end the story on a touching note, but since I only joined in the last battle, I didn’t have any real reason to feel moved or emotionally invested.

I don’t love this country. I don’t have any sense of duty to protect this world.

Well, Sylvia’s about the only one I’d be willing to fight alongside, I guess.

“......”

After gazing down for a while, I started to think maybe I should just go back down.

If anyone tries to touch me again, I can just glare at them and they’ll back off. For now, maybe I’ll wander around and try different foods.

At least within the academy grounds, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t recognize me.

And once I ate, someone would bill Sylvia, and she’d pay whatever the bill was without complaint.

In short, as long as I didn’t break anything, there was no problem, right?

If I just stared holes into the food, someone would probably give me something.

With that in mind, I straightened out my ruffled feathers and stood up.

Alright. Then let’s go find out if there’s any food a gryphon shouldn’t eat.

*

In conclusion, desserts don’t seem to sit well in a gryphon’s body.

It wasn’t that I got an upset stomach or anything—just that anything with too much sugar didn’t suit my taste.

I think I read somewhere that humans came to enjoy sweet things because high-calorie foods helped with survival.

If that’s the case, then maybe that kind of sweetness simply isn’t necessary for a gryphon?

“You don’t seem to like cotton candy very much......”

When I left more than half the cotton candy untouched, the girl who’d handed it to me looked slightly disappointed.

For reference, so far I’d eaten a sandwich, some grilled skewers that were probably chicken, and various cookies. Of those, only the meat in the sandwich and the grilled skewers suited my taste.

“So you’re definitely a carnivore, huh......”

Ah, makes sense.

There are herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores in the world. But the two animals that make up a gryphon’s body are an eagle—a bird of prey—and a lion, which is a feline.

Both are classic examples of carnivores.

......Which means, does that mean bugs °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° would taste better to me than vegetables? Considering my head’s that of a bird and all.

“Then maybe I’ll bring a steak from that restaurant over there next time?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

When a male student, who looked like a noble with his fancy appearance, said that, I whipped my head toward him, and he stuttered in surprise.

“W-what? What is it?”

“Did it... understand the word steak?”

I understood more than just the word steak.

While I was thinking about how to make him follow through on his words—

“......What are you doing?”

I heard Sylvia’s voice.

“Your Highness.”

Apparently, she had just finished her business and come out—at the sight of her, the kids quickly bowed and greeted her. Sylvia approached me without any visible reaction, as if she was used to this sort of scene. Her expression said, “Already causing trouble again?”

But before I could even defend myself, the kids opened their mouths first.

“We’re sorry!”

“Huh?”

Sylvia blinked in surprise at the boy who had apologized, and he quickly explained.

“Your gryphon was staring at the food so intently, we thought it wanted some... so we started handing things over...”

“Ah.”

Now that I think about it, it wasn’t my fault.

When Sylvia first showed up, I thought I’d done something wrong again, but thinking it over, giving food to someone else’s pet without permission is actually pretty rude. It wouldn’t be strange if the owner got angry.

These kids probably knew that too. But it’s a gryphon we’re talking about. With a small dog, you’d worry it might die from eating something bad, but when it’s a gryphon—something way bigger than a person—you don’t really think about stuff like that. It’d be weird if a gryphon died from one piece of chocolate.

Even in the regular world, the bigger an animal’s body, the less likely it is to get sick from eating random things.

......I’m not Sylvia’s “pet,” but even so, just going by how the whole thing unfolded, I don’t think this was my fault.

“......No. You don’t need to apologize.”

Sylvia let out a quiet sigh as she looked at me holding my head high with pride, then turned her gaze up to meet mine again.

As I stared back at her, her eyes subtly shifted. She glanced briefly behind me—when I turned around, I saw a large clock embedded in the upper part of the academy building.

“I have plans with my friends, so I don’t have much time to hang around with you.”

At Sylvia’s voice, I turned back and looked down at her.

“Judging by how you were drawn to the smell of food, I assume you’re hungry. In that case, I’ll walk around with you and buy you some things to eat until it’s time for me to meet my friends. Will that be acceptable?”

Of course it would.

Seeing me stand up right away, Sylvia pressed her forehead like she already had a headache.

*

In the end, I ate all kinds of things that day, but I didn’t really feel full.

Normally, I could eat an entire cow on the spot. Of course, if I ate a whole one, I wouldn’t want to eat again for a while.

Still, I definitely enjoyed the festival atmosphere.

“Looks like you thoroughly enjoyed the festival.”

Sylvia, who returned a little after me, looked me over and said that with a slightly exasperated tone.

There were flowers stuck all over my body. I didn’t know who had started it, but once people noticed someone had placed flowers or a flower crown on me, everyone around started sticking one in. Of course, a few had fallen off while I was walking around or flying back here.

And among the people who approached and touched me near the school, there were quite a few stunning beauties.

In that case, it was worth tolerating the occasional touch from a guy.

“Pyuoo.”

When I let out a happy-sounding noise, Sylvia gave a small chuckle.

Then she stepped closer and looked up at me.

“......”

Sylvia looked up at me silently for a while.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

She quietly opened her mouth and asked.

I dipped my head slightly.

I did enjoy it.

Even though I wasn’t in a human body, and couldn’t really speak to anyone properly, this had been the most fun I’d had since coming to this world.

I’d only ever lived a life of daily abuse. Today I ate roasted meat that didn’t bleed, tried dairy products like cheese, took photos with people, and was given flowers.

The feeling of someone liking me—it was a really nice feeling.

“Do you regret following me?”

Sylvia asked again, and I simply looked at her. She looked like she already knew I didn’t regret it.

“......”

Sylvia gazed wordlessly up at the twilight sky, then came closer to me.

“I want to see the night view. Shall we go for a flight? It’s the last day of the year, after all.”

The last day of the year?

No wonder the festival was so grand.

I lowered my body to make it easier for Sylvia to climb on.

When the light weight of the girl settled on my back, I spread my wings wide and soared into the sky.

The flowers stuck between my feathers fell off one by one. Still, it was winter—how did they even get these flowers? Are there flowers that bloom in winter?

Together with Sylvia, I flew over a sea of lights.

The technology here wasn’t on the level of the world I came from, but the glowing veil spread out below us was impressive on its own.

“I hope next year can be like this too.”

Sylvia said, as if she were looking down at the view.

Her voice was very peaceful.

Yeah.

I hope next year can be like this too.

Hopefully for many years—peacefully.

“Pyuoo.”

“Was that a yes?”

Sylvia laughed at my sound and gently stroked my back with her hand.

“That’s nice. Then let’s head back. We’re expecting a guest tomorrow. I need to get ready.”

At Sylvia’s words, I turned my body.

And flew back home.

To the place I’d live from now on.